IBM is to become the first company to host private regions of the Second Life virtual world on its own servers.

Linden Lab, which created Second Life, is aiming to open up the virtual worlds in a new direction for those who want to use it for collaboration and tele-conferencing.

Employees from IBM will be able to use the public areas of Second Life and also have access to private areas which will be hosted behind IBM's corporate firewall. In the private areas employees will be free to interact with other workers.

IBM has revealed that it will develop email software that can be used on Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone systems.

The Associated Press reported that the two companies have come to an agreement to allow them to better compete with Microsoft.

According to the report, IBM is planning to make public its plans to release its Lotus Notes email package for Apple's portable devices at the Lotusphere conference in Orlando next week.

What's more, IBM is reportedly planning on releasing its Lotus Notes and the free Lotus Symphony productivity package for Mac computers.